Guides
Track locksmith trends in your own service-call mix
Track locksmith trends by tagging each completed call, calculating each work type's share, and comparing periods to spot changes in your shop's call mix.
What to take away
- Track locksmith trends by assigning each completed call a primary work type, then compare each type's share across consistent periods.
- Include rekey and repair, credential cutting, access control, safe opening, automotive entry, and transponder or proximity credential work in your categories.
- Keep property contracts and after-hours calls as separate tags or metrics; they describe the customer or coverage, not the work type.
- A transponder key needs a programmer, a blank, and a subscription. A rekey needs a pin kit. Stock the van for the mix you actually sell.
- Every call-out has a floor cost before you turn a wheel. Know yours before you quote a response window.
- Confirm licensing, insurance, and permit requirements with the authority for your state and locality; they vary, and some states do not license.
Track service-call mix over time
Tally and compare
Use reporting periods you can repeat, such as weekly or monthly, and keep the boundaries consistent. For each completed call, record its date and one primary work type. Keep canceled and declined calls separate from completed calls, and use secondary tags for details such as property contracts or after-hours work.
Use the same category definitions each period. For example, classify transponder and proximity credential jobs separately from automotive entry, and count access control and electric strikes in the same category only if that is how you consistently define the work.
| Primary work type | Earlier calls | Earlier share | Current calls | Current share | Change in share (percentage points) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rekey and repair | — | — | — | — | — |
| Credential cutting | — | — | — | — | — |
| Transponder and proximity credentials | — | — | — | — | — |
| Access control and electric strikes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Safe opening | — | — | — | — | — |
| Automotive entry | — | — | — | — | — |
| Other | — | — | — | — | — |
For each period, divide a category's completed calls by all completed calls and express the result as a percentage. Compare the earlier share with the current share; the difference is the change in percentage points. This shows whether the mix shifted even when total call volume changed.
A rekey is a pin kit and twenty minutes. Log it as rekey and repair; if another task is done on the same visit, use a secondary tag rather than changing the primary work type. When the mix shifts toward jobs needing a van full of equipment, record that equipment burden separately from the call category.
Property managers want one keying schedule across a portfolio, recurring work you can staff for. Tag portfolio calls separately from the work type, then compare their counts and mix shares across the same reporting periods. If a change leads to a rate question, the cost range can help you assess labor costs for a credentialed technician in your metro.
Transponder and proximity credentials need a programmer, a blank and a subscription that renews whether you use it or not. Electric strikes and access control sit at the seam between locksmithing and low-voltage electrical, and in many states that seam is a licensing line.
A change in a category's share is a prompt to check whether the shop can serve that work consistently, not a reason by itself to add the service line. A shop that takes a keying schedule and then misses a turnover loses the whole portfolio, not one call.
What the van has to carry
| Work type | What it needs on board | What it bills against |
|---|---|---|
| Rekey and repair | Pin kits, cylinders, strike plates | Labor, per cylinder |
| Credential cutting | Programmer, blanks, subscription | Blank plus programming |
| Access control | Strikes, power supplies, wire, meter | Hardware plus install time |
| Safe opening | Scope, drills, documentation | Labor, often hourly |
| Automotive entry | Long-reach tools, wedges, code access | Call-out plus labor |
The subscription line is the one owners forget. A programmer that renews monthly is a fixed cost whether the credential calls come or not, so it belongs in your floor cost, not in the price of the calls that happen to use it.
Response windows are a staffing decision, not a marketing one
The promise you can keep is set by who is awake. A two-van shop running a 24-hour window has one technician on call and one who worked all day. That is the real constraint, and it shows up as callbacks.
Track two numbers by week. Let N be calls offered after 10 p.m. Let T be calls your on-call technician completed. The gap is what you declined or fumbled, and it tells you whether the next hire pays for itself before you make it. Keep these figures separate from the work-type mix: they measure after-hours capacity, not changes in the categories of work.
Worked example: N = 40 calls offered after 10 p.m. in a month. T = 26 calls completed by the on-call technician. The gap is 14 calls, or 35 percent.
If monthly floor cost is $3,000 and the shop completes 120 calls total, floor cost is $3,000 / 120 = $25 per completed call. A second on-call shift is worth adding only if it lowers that $25, not raises it.
Callback causes cluster in a few places: a cylinder keyed to the wrong bitting, a credential not programmed to the vehicle, a strike that binds after the door settles. A customer who was never told what the job included is the fourth. The last one is free to fix.
Authority, records and the jobs to refuse
Every job starts with a question you ask before you quote: who has the right to authorize this work? For a rental, that is the owner or the managing agent. For a vehicle, it is the registered owner or someone with written authority from them. For a commercial building, it is whoever holds the contract.
Write the answer down. The name was checked. The identification was checked. The address, scope, price, and the customer's signature were recorded. A job you cannot authorize is a job you decline, and declining it costs you one call instead of a lawsuit.
Requirements depend on location. In California, the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services is the locksmith licensing authority, and the governing law is the Locksmith Act (California locksmith authority and law). In Maryland, the licensing authority is the Maryland Locksmith Licensing Program under the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing; Title 12.5 of the Business Regulation Article, Annotated Code of Maryland, is also known as the Maryland Locksmiths Act (Maryland licensing authority and law). Confirm the applicable requirements with the authority for your own location.
A rising share does not by itself show that a category is profitable. Use job records alongside the mix trend before deciding whether a change merits a staffing or stocking adjustment.
A shift in the call mix is not proof that you can promise a faster response time or wider coverage. Check any response claim separately against the staff and capacity you can actually provide.
For a separate look at where demand may be heading by metro, see markets for a locksmith business.
Common questions
Should I add access control if I already do rekeys?
A rising share of access-control calls is a reason to review capability, not an automatic reason to add the work. Confirm that you can pull wire and read a meter, or have a licensed partner who can. A strike that fails after a month costs you the property manager.
How do I price a credential job when the blank varies?
Price the blank at cost plus your standard markup and the programming as its own line. Bundling them hides which half of the job is actually profitable.
What is the fastest way to cut callbacks?
Confirm the scope out loud before you start, and leave a written record of what was done. Most callbacks are a customer expecting something the technician never mentioned.
